Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron
by Deathy
Summary: When a new member is added to the SWAT Kats things get... interesting...
1. Tragedy

Disclaimer (aka Author's Anonymous): This is a Swat Kats fanfic gathered from the snippets of knowledge I still remember from watching the show way back when - so sure, this may take place in an alternate universe since facts differ from the truth... (Treat this fic as a story with the characters you knew =P)  
Anyway, I do not own any characters from Swat Kats. I created Kitty/Hacker but I don't really care if you borrow her or stick her in another fanfic just as long as I dont find out ^_~ hehehe  
Have fun reading ^_^  
  
  
Prologue  
On a distant planet, parallel to that of our Earth, lives an intelligent life form. Agile, curious and intelligent, they resembled their distant feline cousins and our common household pet, the cat, in many ways. Not surprisingly, they call themselves Kats.   
  
They dominated their planet for many years; growing mainly within their cities-the most popular being Megakat City, the biggest metropolitan. Until, one day, a rift in space opened, and a tyrant by the name of Darkat secretly stepped through to challenge their domination-to end their freedom.  
  
This evil and powerful kat came from yet another parallel world. His objective is to have at his personal disposal a city rich with natural resources and plenty of slaves. He had reined supreme on his world-a world that had been developed to its greatest, but sadly it was poor and choked with pollution. The inhabitants of that world now suffer the consequences: hunger, death, and a range of incurable diseases that had mutated from Darkat's many uncontrolled and fatal experiments. Even now, the fate of that planet balance on a fragile seesaw between life and death.   
  
This is to be the fate of Megakat City. For many years, the kats were oblivious by their own day-to-day concerns to notice that their freedom was threatened by the arrival of a certain affluent individual. But a small resistance stood up, foreshadowing the danger that had been placed upon their city. This same group of kats fought crime years before Darkat's arrival, when metallic kat-bots from the future tried to change history and when other dangerous criminals roamed the streets of Megakat City. With these enemies now behind bars, they focus on the fight for life and freedom. They call themselves...Swat Kats: the Radical Squadron.   
  
  
Chapter 1: Tragedy  
  
"Get down!" cried Lieutenant Felina of the Enforcers as she dived behind a dead tree trunk covered by thick bunches of slimy moss.   
  
Covering her ears with her hands, she shut her eyes tightly. A cry of hysterical laughter pierced through the air followed by a deafening explosion, knocking the dead tree into Felina's body. She struggled to hold her ground, fighting the weight of the tree against her shoulder. A flock of birds from the nearby trees shrieked with fear and flew away.  
  
"Great job, Lieutenant," said a familiar voice above her. Felina peeked from under the tree and saw T-bone and his partner, Razor, walking towards her. T-bone, a dusty brown kat, was a heavily built kat whereas; Razor was an agile mahogany kat. Together with Hacker, who had teamed up with them a few years ago, they made up the Swat Kats. Felina was glad to see that they were unharmed and happier still that their mission was a success.   
  
"Is it over?" Felina asked craning her neck to survey what was left of the lab.   
  
"I don't know," replied T-bone thoughtfully, helping the Lieutenant to her feet. "But from what we've been through, I think it's far from over."  
  
"I think it's over," exclaimed Hacker outwardly, giving a victory whoop, as she pounced towards them. "The Enforcers would normally detonate bombs simultaneous---?"  
  
But before Hacker could finish her question much less her word, another blast was heard from the lab. This time the force of the explosion caught them off-guard as all four kats were thrown backwards into the forest.  
  
"You were saying, Hacker?" taunted Razor. He looked miserably around him and to his dismay, found that he was covered with mud from his helmet down to his feet.   
  
"Well, how was I supposed to know that was part of the plan?" croaked Hacker as she fluffed up her auburn tail that looked almost flattened from the impact with the tree. "By the way," she added, "you look totally gross."  
  
"You don't look too bad yourself," Razor answered sarcastically.  
  
T-bone came thundering through a cluster of undergrowth. "Crud! Where's Felina?" he demanded when he found his partners. "She couldn't have just disappeared."  
  
"Beats me," Razor replied, struggling to get to his feet, as mud oozed down the sides of his pants. Once up, he sloshed his way out of the puddle and searched for drier spots to walk on.  
  
"C'mon, you guys! Spread out and look for her," instructed T-bone in a controlled voice that masked his restlessness. And with that, he left his miserable looking partners gazing skyward wondering how their day had ended up so horribly.   
  
Hacker twitched her tail again, not liking the extra weight of the mud coating her tail, and started walking in the opposite direction, which was east, leaving Razor shaking his head muttering under his breath. He saw that he could only pick north or south, unfortunately, both directions were just as muddy as the other was. Razor was definitely one unhappy kat - not to mention filthy.  
  
After the trio searched the forest for more than an hour, staying in contact with each other by radio, the Swat Kats decided to call it quits. They met up again at the position where they had fallen into the forest, which was where the lab met the woodlands.  
  
"She's probably back with her uncle, Commander Feral," concluded Razor tiredly as he examined his appearance again for the hundredth time.  
  
"Yeah. Why don't we drop in on Feral to check if his niece is around," T-bone suggested sardonically.  
  
"And if she's not, guess who's going to be in deep shit?" Hacker retorted.  
  
"Us?" Razor guessed innocently as he fingered his pants, which was now covered with patches of dried mud.  
  
T-bone glared angrily at his old friend. "Don't waste your breath, Razor!"   
  
"Chill out, buddy," was all Razor could say before the Swat Kats headed glumly back to their jet.  
  
As this was the first time the Swat Kats and the Enforcers were working together - to take back the lab, Pumadime, from their enemy, whom they did not know yet - Commander Feral had entrusted his Lieutenant to the Swat Kats. The Swat Kats, with the help of Lieutenant Felina, had convinced the Commander that demolishing Pumadime was the only way to restrain their enemy from using the equipment and inventions. The Swat Kats knew that if these inventions fell into the wrong hands, it would put Megakat City in peril, leaving the Swat Kats helpless and unprepared. Since the Commander was confident that his niece could take care of herself, he had allowed her to assist the Swat Kats in destroying the lab.  
  
"I don't get it!" Hacker said in frustration. "It isn't like Felina to go running off somewhere without telling anyone and..."  
  
"And we're the only ones closest to her," finished T-bone.  
  
"Right! Especially since the Commander and his Enforcers are on the other side of Pumadime," Razor added.  
  
"Crud!" T-bone swore again. "You sure you guys checked every nook and cranny of this damned forest?"   
  
"Yes, T-bone," chorused Razor and Hacker as they reached their concealed jet, the Turbokat. While Razor was disabling the auto-defence system to the Turbokat thus opening the canopy, T-bone hung behind as he turned regrettably away from the forest.  
  
"Something tells me T-bone is not worried about having the Commander arresting us at first sight." Hacker whispered to Razor when she leapt into her seat, which was beside Razor's. "I think he's more worried about Felina."  
  
"And you aren't? Yeah, but I know what you mean," Razor whispered back as he climbed in behind his controls, his thoughts shifting from his appearance to T-bone. "He hasn't been so moody since he sent Turmoil to prison."  
  
"Turmoil?" inquired Hacker.  
  
"You know, the Russian feline who tried to rule the skies," prompted Razor.  
  
"I must have been working with the Enforcers. They never gave me any news update especially if it had something to do with the heroic performance of the swat kats. Anyway, what happened?"   
  
Razor looked behind and seeing that T-bone was out of earshot, he told Hacker about Turmoil. Lady Turmoil, which was her title, and her band of elite female pilots had been a threat to Megakat City when she had took down most of the Enforcer's choppers and staked her claim on the skies over the city. Fortunately, with the help of T-bone's charms accompanied by his fantastic piloting abilities, the Swat Kats had managed to infiltrate the skybase and rigged it with explosives. The skybase was taken down and Turmoil escaped only to be captured when Razor shot down her plane. Feeling guilty, for T-bone had piloted the Turbokat in position to take Turmoil's plane down, he sent a letter in which he confessed his true feelings about Turmoil being his first true love.   
  
"Oh man, it must have been hard for T-bone. Imagine a successful relationship between a good guy and a bad girl. It's almost impossible!" sympathised Hacker when Razor finished telling the story. Although Hacker thought it was weird that Razor knew what was in the letter, she decided not to probe further.   
  
  
"And then, of course, you came along, " continued Razor, "You were ditched by the Enforcers, weren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, it seems as if it were yesterday when I hacked into the Commander's private files and found a list of those who were sacked. I don't understand why the Commander made a big fuss about it. Maybe he was looking for an excuse to sack me. I guess now my name has been added to that list," Hacker said with a forced laugh. "Did I ever tell you I found your name and T-bone's name, I mean your real names as in Jake and Chance, on the list, making you ex-Enforcers?"  
  
"Plenty of times," replied Razor. "We were accused for stealing equipment."  
  
"Did you?" asked Hacker curiously.  
  
"Yup, how did you think we got the stuff for the Turbokat?" said Razor matter-of-factly.  
  
"I always thought that you took them out of the salvage yard."  
  
"Well, you thought wrong...again," Razor answered with a grin. "Anyway, the yard would not have the high tech equipment that is needed for the Turbokat."  
  
"How did you guys get to be in charge of the salvage yard?" Hacker asked with wonder as two jobless kats could not have afforded to buy it.  
  
"We managed to convince the last owner that we were a couple of poor mechanics who'd give anything for a place to live in and then, he gave us the salvage yard for free."  
  
"Just like that?" questioned Hacker with amazement.  
  
"Yeah, we're a couple of lucky kats, aren't we? My guess is that the guy had always wanted to be rid of the dump. But found no one willing to pay a single penny for it."  
  
"Then why didn't he just abandon it?"  
  
Razor spread his hands in front of him and shrugged his shoulders. "Search me. You're asking the wrong guy."  
  
Just then, T-bone appeared beside the Turbokat and leapt up into his seat. The conversation between Hacker and Razor ended abruptly.  
  
"Let's head for home," T-bone said reluctantly to his partners when he took up his place at the pilot's seat. 


	2. Home

Chapter 2: Home  
  
Pulling back the throttle, the Turbokat generated a low hum for a few seconds and then they were airborne in minutes. As the Turbokat zipped through the air, Hacker realised that she was very lucky to be acquainted with Jake and Chance. Not only were they quick and smart, they also had the best and most advanced technology that she could ever dream of, in the whole of Megakat City.   
  
The Turbokat, which was designed by Jake, was the only jet that flew the skies. The Enforcers had been working on the design of a jet's engine but this project was abandoned as many labs were destroyed due to the over-powering of the engines. If Jake had stayed on with the Enforcers, the Swat Kats would never have been formed.   
  
Hacker glanced to her right side and saw that Jake was busy trying to design new weapons. Shaking her head, she peered out of her window, which was on her left, and saw the salvage yard, which was a couple of kilometres away from Megakat City and well out of view from the many citizens. The entrance to the underground hanger was hidden behind a huge pile of old and rusty cars. As the jet dipped downwards, Hacker could see the piles and piles of cars and other electrical appliances closing in fast ahead of her.   
  
"Steady, T-bone," cautioned Hacker, "We're in no hurry to get home, you know."  
  
"Yeah, T-bone, slow down," said Razor softly so that he would not hurt T-bone's feelings anymore than it already was.   
  
T-bone winced with frustration as he forced himself to control his emotions. The hanger doors opened and he steered the jet onto the runway, which lead to the underground hanger. As the Turbokat came to a complete stop, T-bone released the catch above him and the canopy lifted upwards. Razor and Hacker left the upset T-bone in the Turbojet and headed upstairs to the living room, which was part of their home. The house was situated on the outskirts of the salvage yard and this made it easier for the Swat Kats to have excess to Megakat City.   
  
Razor trotted straight to his room to get changed for he found walking uncomfortable as the dried mud had made his pants stiff. Hacker, on the other hand, was not that dirty but exhausted. Pulling of her helmet and her glovatricks, which was a variety of weapons attached to the glove, and turned on the television.  
  
When Hacker untied the knot of her mask, which was a key feature that hid the Swat Kats' identities, she was transformed to a new kat. Now, her name was Kitty, an ordinary kat who had experience with computer systems. Kitty worked for Jake and Chance in the Megakat City's salvage yard. Her job was to pick out the useful parts, in the old computers, and sell them to anyone who needed computer spare parts. Many a time, kats would always need a computer expert to repair their computers and they would turn to Kitty so, a mini computer maintenance service was provided for a small amount of cash. Of course, most of the useful parts that were dug up in the yard were used for her own computer, which could now hack into practically every system in Megakat City.   
  
She slumped down into the sofa bed and raised her legs onto the armrest, occupying the whole seat. Her mind wandered back to when she was just a little feline of eight. Her mother had died the year before and her father had to work extra hard just to keep them both alive. She had little education but was still able to self-teach herself as she visited the library frequently. Soon, at the age of thirteen, she found a growing interest in computers. Her father who owned a computer shop, which sold computer-spare parts, was greatly in dept too many loan sharks. Back then, most of the computers, owned by the other kats, were brand-new and they hardly needed repairs much less, spare parts.   
  
Her father had disapproved of Kitty's interest for computers as he had imagined her in an office when she grew older. Nevertheless, Kitty continued to work on her growing interest. Kitty was fifteen when the loan sharks burst into her father's shop and brutally murdered him. Later the Enforcers found a terrified Kitty hiding under the counter of the cash register. The Commander had no choice but to hire Kitty as a cleaning woman as she had no one else to turn to and the orphanage only excepted children under thirteen.   
  
For two years she 'slaved' for the Enforcers. And during these years she lived in almost complete boredom. She had thought that this experience would make her stupid or mentally retarded but fortunately, she did not.   
  
Though bored, she was curious in what was stored in the computer of the Enforcers' diskettes. One night, she crept into the Commander's office and began hacking into his private files. What she found out had turned out to be her biggest disappointment. Kitty had got hold of a list of employees sacked by the Enforcers. And at that same moment, the Commander had decided to walk into his office to get some files when he had spotted Kitty at his desk. Enraged by the sight, the Commander had ordered his men to arrest her. Frightened, Kitty panicked and escaped the only way she knew how: through the window. She had somehow managed to escape unharmed as her agile body had allowed her to leap from the window ledge to the ladder of the fire escape route. Gracefully, Kitty had raced down the rungs and over the fence, which bordered the Enforcers' compound and escaped the complex with her heart pounding so fast she thought she might have fainted right there and then.   
  
She ran on foot with the Enforcers had given chase on motorcycles. When it felt like she was at her last burst of energy, a stranger appeared before her on a fully equipped motorcycle allowing her to give her a ride. Gratefully, she had accepted, as at that point she didn't really care if she was going to be kidnapped by some psychotic maniac. Truth to tell, she didn't remember thinking at all; it had all happened so fast.   
  
The stranger turned out to be Razor, who had been delighted to save any innocent bystander. T-bone in the Turbokat had picked them up when Razor took a wrong turn and met a dead end. Kitty was blind folded and brought to their hanger where she had to reveal to them the truth of what really happened. Learning about Kitty's interest in computers and her status, the Swat Kats immediately welcomed her to the team as they needed major tuning and upgrading to their computer systems. They had worked together for a year or so, gaining each other's trust, when they officially accepted her as a member of the team. She was surprised that they had secretly added an extra seat for her in the Turbokat. A compact and yet advanced computer was installed into the side of Razor's controls, to give Hacker her own station in the Turbokat.   
  
As Kitty lay on the couch, lost in her reverie, hear ears perked up at she heard a familiar voice. Instinctively, Hacker sat up straight and let out a loud gasp of anger. 


	3. News Flash

Chapter 3: News Flash  
  
"This is Ann Gora, bringing you the latest news update on Katseye News," Ann Gora announced enthusiastically, "I am here at the scene of the recent bomb explosion of Megakat City's experimental lab, Pumadime. And now I have here with me Commander Feral, of the Enforcers, to tell us more of this tragedy. Commander Feral..."  
  
"I have every reason to believe that the Swat Kats are behind this act. We think that they have teamed up with a group of corrupted imbeciles, betraying the Enforcers. We all know that Pumadime was taken away from us at this time yesterday and I figured the only way to put an end to whatever plan they've had installed, was to demolish it immediately," Feral spat angrily. "Unfortunately, we were one step behind the lunatics as they too had rigged the lab with explosives. But, with the quick efficiency of the Enforcers and a little assistance of the Swat Kats, my team of Enforcers managed to detonate our bombs first, destroying whatever equipment they wanted to get. And then those two-timing Swat Kats, why I'd like to get my hands on that bunch of rouges, went right in and..."   
  
"Commander Feral," interrupted Ann, "I am sure that Megakat City is indeed privileged to have such a skilled and capable commander like you, but don't you think you should think twice before accusing the Swat Kats of being part of this plot? After all, they have saved our city more than once before."  
  
"I don't even have to THINK about it!" Feral exploded, "If I ever get my hands on the Swat Kats, I'll charge them for every offence, including kidnapping!"  
  
"Kidnapping?!" Ann was taken back. "What kidnapping?"  
  
"Why, they've kidnapped my best lieutenant. And not only that, she's my niece, Lieutenant Felina!" cried Feral as he stomped away angrily to his awaiting car.  
  
"Well, there you have it folks, straight from the Commander's mouth," Ann said with a smile and turned her attention from the police car to her cameraman. "This is live coverage of today's explosion. Are the Swat Kats innocent or guilty? Katseye news will guarantee you all the live updates as soon as the Enforcers have solved the case. This is Ann Gora, signing off!" Ann Gora said as she signalled to her cameraman to end the broadcasting.   
  
As Ann watched the infuriated Commander drive off in the car, her mind whirled thinking of what she could do to help prove the Swat Kats were innocent. She knew, as her job of a reporter, that she would have to start investigating the disappearance of the Lieutenant to find the real culprits. She also knew, from her experience that waiting for the Enforcers to solve a big case on their own would be waiting for the day when the sun went nova.   
  
Ann knew that the forest was the most likely place for Felina to have gone. Calling for her cameraman, she instructed him to check out the forest, while she investigated around it. Ann sighted a dead tree, which lay fallen on the ground a few meters ahead and found, interestingly enough, several footprints heading towards it. She followed them carefully trying not to make any sound for fear that whoever that was behind the log might hear her approach. Crouching, she half-crawled and half-walked toward the log. Ann picked up a rock hoping to use it to injure the kat who was behind the tree. Leaping up, she drew her hand back to strike her opponent with the rock. To her surprise, she found nothing except for more footprints. Examining these footprints carefully for a couple of times, she finally came to the conclusion that there had been a least one other kat hiding behind the log before. Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.   
  
Felina was approaching the log when the Swat Kats surprised her and kidnapped her! Ann thought excitedly. She went back to the other set of footprints and what she saw made her change her mind. In front of Ann laid three sets of different footprints, so she concluded that Felina did not approach the log at all. Disappointed, Ann decided to walk behind the log to look for more clues.   
  
What if Felina was behind the log? Ann thought, trying desperately to cover all possibilities, so then the Swat Kats must have been the ones who approached her.   
  
Ann pulled out her pocket magnifying glass and examined all the footprints. She detected something that she did not see before. It was the way the all the footprints were formed. One side was deeper than the other, and Ann guessed that it meant that the kats were pushed backwards together by some force. Ann ran over to the nearby trees and found that her suspicion was confirmed. On the ground lay several footprints and handprints. Those footprints led off into the forest. But to her surprise, there were only three different sets of prints.  
  
"Could they have carried her?" Ann inquired aloud and to satisfy her curiosity, she followed the footprints. To her utter dismay, the footprints led off in different directions.   
  
Quickly, Ann ran back to the tree. "Felina must have been forced back somewhere else!"  
  
Ann started inspecting the vicinity of the dead tree. There were a couple of bushes and she inspected each of them carefully. Finding no clues, she found herself back at square one. Frustrated, Ann decided to return back to see if her cameraman had found any clues. As she turned around, she found herself walking smack into a large tree. Suddenly, a funny idea hit her.  
  
"Maybe Felina was forced into a tree which was really a trapdoor in disguise," she whispered, remembering a detective show she had watched a week ago, which had trapdoors that had led to the villain's lair.   
  
Since she was out of other bright ideas, Ann was game to undertake the silly idea. Just when she was about to tap her tenth tree, something hard struck her from behind. Pain erupted from her shoulder and down to her legs. The force made her legs weak and she collapsed, face first, onto the soil. She tried to call for help but had no strength to do so. Her limbs faltered and failed her as she felt another blow delivered onto her head. As she felt darkness enclosing in on her, she heard a cruel laugh followed by a silly cackle.  
  
"Didn't your mother ever tell you never to knock on your enemies' door?" a low, masculine metallic-like voice sniggered. "That way, you'll be looking for less trouble. But unfortunately, there will be no more next time..." 


	4. Captives

Chapter 4: Captives  
  
She awoke groggily and found herself lying on soft mud, which was fortunately not damp. Felina opened her eyes and was startled to see only darkness. Waiting awhile for her eyes to adjust to the gloom, she struggled to recall how she had ended up in a place like this. The Lieutenant suddenly remembered that she had been at Pumadime setting the explosives and then the next thing that had happen was that she was running at full speed to duck behind a dead tree. After that, she recalled a force from the explosion that had made her fly backwards into a tree. Then in the blink of an eye, she had hit on something hard that had knocked her out and then she was falling like a rock in the sky. She recollected how frightened she had felt at that time everything went black when she had crashed onto the hard ground. Felina shivered at that thought. She didn't think she would ever wake up again.   
  
Her head throbbed painfully as she struggled to get to her feet. Groping around blindly for some support, her hands touched something that felt like a concrete wall. Felina managed to stand up so that she could stretch her cramped body and she used the wall to prevent herself from losing her balance, as she was still a little dizzy. Felina glanced at her glow-in-the-dark watch, hoping to calculate the approximate time she had been unconscious. To her utter disappointment, she found that her watch had stopped ticking.   
  
"Great!" Felina sighed in misery, "I don't know how long I've been here, I don't know how to get out of here and worst, I don't even know where 'here' is!"   
  
She took off one of her gloves and reached out her hand to examine the wall and to her surprise, she found it damp and sandy. After more exploration, she determined that she was either in some kind of tunnel, which was under the forest or in a really complicated underground sewage system, which led to the sea. Felina prayed that it didn't lead to the sea because at high tide, she'd definitely be one wet kat.  
  
Leaning against the wall, Felina's hands went straight to her transmitter to use it to radio for help but, unfortunately, it couldn't receive anything except for static. Of what little she knew of electronics, she concluded that it had been crushed by her fall. She abandoned the bulky and heavy equipment, and decided that she would have a better chance in finding her own way out rather than tinkering with it in the dark. Her search for a ladder of some sort that could lead her back to the outside turned out to be fruitless. Discouraged, Felina knew that her only choice now was either left or right and both ways seem to lead into endless darkness.   
  
"Eeny, meny, miny, mo! Which way should Felina go?" she whispered softly.  
  
Her hand pointed left at the end of her sentence, so she started to walk in that direction. After walking what seemed like half an hour, she saw a glowing light at the end of the tunnel.  
  
Felina smiled. "Works like a charm every time, I think. Just hope I don't end up in more trouble." Crossing her fingers, she went forward to the source of light.  
  
As she neared it, her sensitive cat ears picked up a strange machine-like humming noise. Instinctively, her hand went straight for her gun.   
  
"Something's not right," she cautioned herself and proceeded slowly. "And I'm gonna find out what it is," she told herself despite her sorrowful looking state.   
  
Cocking the gun as softly as she could, she raised it to her shoulder. With two hands on the handle of the gun and a finger on the trigger, she walked on and crouched down behind a large rock that was near the entrance of what seemed like a large cave.   
  
As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw a huge underground laboratory. The lab itself was the cave and the equipment sat on the muddy ground. She gapped with wonder at all the sophisticated equipment, which was laid out, in front of her eyes. But there was one machine that stood out from the rest. To her untrained eye, it looked like a simple ray gun only it was enlarged ten folds.   
  
Suddenly, she heard approaching footsteps from behind. Swiftly, she turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees to confront her opponent. Felina pointed her gun into the dark ready to shot anything that stirred. To her surprise, a foot lashed out of the darkness and knocked the barrel of her gun before she could even pull the trigger. The force was so hard on her hands that she let go of her only weapon. Stunned for a few seconds, Felina started to reach for her gun ignoring the stinging pain in her hands.  
  
"Freeze!" shrieked a metallic voice. "Don't you even think about moving a muscle. Now raise your pretty little paws where I can see them or I'll blow your pretty little head into pieces!"   
  
Felina cursed furiously as she slowly raised her hands.  
  
He laughed as he placed the barrel of his gun to her head. "Why Lieutenant Felina, I thought you'd have made an interesting challenge, but I guess I thought wrong!" teased the robot kat. "By the way, glad of you to have join us."  
  
The android-kat led the Lieutenant haughtily into a small building, which was constructed at the farthest right-hand corner of the cave. On the way, they passed several smaller creatures. Each had a set of tiny but powerful wings, six insect-like legs, and a huge beak that was shaped like the pincers of a lobster. Felina recognised them to be the D'Airkats, most loyal servants to Darkat. They were the ones who had survived the plague on their home world and the journey through the rift, and they were the ones who have and always will blindly follow their leader, Darkat.   
  
Opening the door to the room, Felina saw a large dark-robed figure interrogating another kat who was chained to the wall. Disturbed by the android's entrance, the figure swirled around and snarled angrily.   
  
Slightly taken back, the downcast android-kat pulled a long face and stiffly bowed low, it's nose almost grazing the ground. "My lord Darkat, I have brought you yet another intruder."  
  
The figure stepped out into the light and suddenly his mood changed as he smiled a satisfied smile. "It seems to me we have a serious pest problem. Not surprising by the fact that we are underground. However," he paused purposely to create a dramatic effect and then continued emphasising each word, "it is causing a great deal of time to extract the truth of their purpose of being here. A minor setback that I believe can be rectified. Herr Doktor, chain her up!"  
  
Oh no! I've wandered straight into Darkat's lair. How could I have been so careless? Felina's spine tingled slightly with dread as she thought of what would happen to her if no one rescued her. However, with all her training and experience with the Enforcers, she managed to cover her fear by glancing menacingly at him. Only then, did she realise who the other kat was.  
  
Ann Gora from Katseye News! What is she doing here? Felina thought as she was hauled towards the same wall Ann was chained on.  
  
"Felina!" cried Ann as she struggled fruitlessly to free herself from the chains and then seemingly whispered to herself, "I knew the Swat Kats weren't involved in it."  
  
Felina cast a look of confusion at Ann, but remained silent for she wanted to talk to Ann once her captors left the building.   
  
"Herr Doktor!" commanded Darkat, "Why don't we show the ladies what we have installed for their city?"  
  
The android laughed gleefully, as he ran off enthusiastically like a child fetching his latest toy.  
  
As the Doctor wheeled the machine outside the large window of the small building so that the captives could see it, Darkat proudly raised his hands towards it and said, "This is what I call the Ultimate Computerised Mega-Laser Blaster! It can disintegrate any material it is programmed to destroy and at the same time, it can also be reflected off any material I program it to. It's a beauty, isn't it?"  
  
"Looks like a piece of junk to me," Ann whispered to Felina.  
  
Felina sniggered quietly, yet she replied sternly. "But it can do more harm than any other piece of junk."   
  
"Very good Lieutenant! And guess what? If your uncle doesn't pay me the ransom I'm going to hold, one of you ladies will be the first to experience the power of this machine. I think I'll get rid of the stubborn one first," Darkat declared openly. "And you"- he pointed to Felina- "are going to have front row seats for answering smartly!"  
  
As Darkat turned to leave the room, he fingered at a vague direction behind him and commanded to the grinning android. "Gag them!"  
  
The android happily waltzed into the room with pieces of dirty clothes. Once he was sure that the two were securely gagged, he strolled out of the building and locked the door behind him.   
  
As Felina glance melancholy outside the window, she saw the android fixing in the last parts of the machine with the help of the D'Airkats. She was beginning to think that no one would ever find her down there. And as she thought about it, it dawned to her suddenly that the rags in her mouth tasted sourly bitter. 


	5. Depression

Chapter 5: Depression  
  
"Hey, you guys!" Kitty cried to no one in particular, "Did you watch the News Flash?"  
  
"No, but I heard it," cracked Jake as he folded his mask and stuffed it into his overturned helmet.  
  
Finding herself alone with Jake, Kitty asked where Chance was.  
  
Jake grinned and gladly answered her. "He's downstairs polishing the Turbokat."  
  
"What?! You gotta be kindin' me! That's the last thing on Earth Chance would ever do!" Kitty declared. However, uncertainty betrayed her as it spread across her face.  
  
"You don't believe me?" Jake asked with a note of disappointment.  
  
"Well, why should I? It's not like you tell the truth every time. You know, if you were in my shoes and I in yours, you'd find it hard to tell if I were telling the truth or not. By the way," Kitty said, changing the subject, "do you know that Feral will blast our tails off if we show our faces in Megakat City?"  
  
Jake shrugged. "He's always like that. It's nothing new."  
  
"Yea, but this time he's got a reason for doing so," Kitty replied, worriedly.   
  
"So, what do you expect me to do?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just that..." Kitty thought for awhile. She realised that she did not know what they should do. Heck, she didn't know what she should do, either. Feeling Jake's contemplating gaze on her, expecting her to have an answer, she said the only thing that was in her head. "I don't know!"  
  
Jake looked at Kitty and for the first time since she had been with the Swat Kats, he could see that she was really exhausted, sad, confused, unsure, and tired, all in all a really bad combination. He walked to the television set and turned it off, plunging the room into semidarkness.  
  
"Cheer up, Kitty, something's bound to happen," he said assuredly.  
  
"But from now to then, what can we do to help? The Commander will send his entire force after us if he sees the Turbocat flying around."  
  
"Something's bound to happen," repeated Jake softly as he placed Kitty's legs onto the floor and settled into the sofa.  
  
Jake watched Kitty as she nestled her head into a cushion, closing her eyes for a while. Jake crossed his hands over his waist and closed his eyes too. He knew what Kitty was feeling like. He just couldn't bring her to understand that he would not give in so easily. After the few hours that the Swat Kats had been working with Felina, he knew that Kitty had began to build some trust and companionship towards the Lieutenant. It was the first time after many years that she had been able to work with another female kat, Jake realised, and maybe that was putting Kitty over the edge.   
  
As Jake was about to really enjoy his nap, he heard someone calling his name. Opening one eye, he saw Chance standing in front of him.  
  
"Good morning, Jake," said Chance with an evil smile, "I need you to go out and get me more of that wax stuff for polishing, pronto."  
  
Jake was just about to protest when Chance whirled around and headed downstairs. Groaning, Jake glanced over to Kitty, who was still asleep. Her red hair was long, curling naturally, framing her flawless face. To his surprise, he found himself in apparition of a bittersweet fantasy; here he was with a beautiful individual and he had no way of telling her all that was in his heart. She seemed like a princess out of a storybook, but it was a different story altogether when she was awake. She was a kat whose temper and strength matched those of a male as she had spent most of her life surrounded by them.   
  
Jake admired the strength of her will, but he could also tell that all her fear and shame were bottled up inside her. He wanted to be there for her if that bottle ever shattered for he longed to hold her in his arms. Jake felt an attraction towards her, one that he had never felt before, and one that he could not explain. Twice he had told his best friend, Chance, that he neither liked nor trusted 'the rogue,' but both times he was lying. Jake had tried many ways, before, to express his true feelings but Kitty would always brush them aside as some silly joke or something. Sighing, he turned, threw his leather jacket on and strode out of the door.  
  
Kitty awoke a few minutes later and seeing that Jake was already gone, she placed her feet back on the armrest. Trying to get more sleep, Kitty found that she had to do something before she burst with rage. She felt that it was her duty to get the Lieutenant back and not spend the time sleeping. Getting to her feet, she decided to see how Chance was doing. Kitty walked down into the basement and by the flickering light of a lamp, she could make out Chance soaping a wing of the Turbokat.  
  
"Chance?" Kitty called softly to him as she paused on her way down.  
  
Lost in his own thoughts, Chance continued scrubbing the wing.  
  
"Chance," Kitty continued settling down on a step, "I know how you're feeling about losing Felina. Felina's by far the closest thing to me...like an elder sister. She's taught me many things during that last few dreaded hours. But I want you to know that Jake and I will always be here for you no matter what happens, alright?" She paused and raised her voice a bit louder. "Chance?"  
  
As if hearing her for the first time, Chance looked up. "Did you say something, Kitty?"  
  
Kitty's shoulders slumped. "Nothing. I was just wondering why you didn't use the extra lights, you and Jake fixed in last month."  
  
"I know what you said before so, you can quit acting," said Chance guiltily, "Anyway, thanks for your support."  
  
"Well, now you know," said Kitty as she pulled a seat from the corner, "By the way, do you know where Jake is?"  
  
"Yeah. He's out buying wax. Why?"  
  
"Just wondering," Kitty answered with a shrug.  
  
Kitty slid into a seat and faced the computer. After waiting for the computer to boot up, she typed a series of code words into it and she found herself entering the police mainframe. There were many 'roads,' which was what Kitty preferred to call them, leading in and out of it. Kitty travelled on one which lead her directly to where all the maps and plans of Megakat City, above and below ground, were kept. Zooming in to a spot, she found herself in Feral's office and all of a sudden, memories of her time in the Enforcers' headquarters came pouring back.  
  
Unknown to Kitty, Jake had returned to the hanger with the wax, which he tossed over to Chance, who gracefully caught it with one hand. Jake flicked on a stolen police radio that was already set to the police frequency. The sudden burst of sound made Kitty leap to her feet instantly. She turned around furiously, like a protective tiger, and saw Jake looking sheepishly at her while spilling out his apologies.  
  
Kitty frowned. "There's no need for a grand entrance, Jake."  
  
"I said I was sorry."  
  
"I heard," Kitty said with a grin and then added, "Sometimes I think you take me too seriously."  
  
Dropping the subject, Jake ran over to the computer and said, "Hey! Isn't that Feral's office?"  
  
"That's right. Why?" Kitty asked as she settled back into the seat.  
  
"Won't it be strange for Feral to find some fire-crackers in his office that accidentally exploded in his face?" Jack asked with a touch of glee in his voice.  
  
Nudging Kitty off of her seat, he studied the structure of the building and the office, committing them to memory.   
  
Kitty stood up and brushed her pants. "You're not serious are...no, that's a stupid question. You're almost always serious when it sounds like you're not." She paused knowing he had not heard a word she had said.   
  
Rolling her eyeballs, she looked around the hanger for another chair, but found no other. Irritated, she tapped on Jake's shoulder. "Monsieur Jake, you're sitting on the only available chair in this hanger. And I believe the others are in the attic. Now, since I got to this chair first, I suppose you could kindly give it back, right?"  
  
"Umm...nope!" replied Jake with a teasing grin; eyes still glued to the screen. "If you want to sit, you'll have two choices. First, you could go to the attic to get one. And the second, you'll have to force me off it."   
  
To his surprise, instead of going to the attic or forcing him off, Kitty sat on his lap and gained control of the computer again. She zoomed out and continued examining the layout of Megakat City.   
  
"Me and my big mouth," groaned Jake.   
  
"Serves you right for taking something that wasn't yours in the first place," Kitty said, who was now grinning.  
  
Suddenly, they heard Chance swear aloud. 


	6. Threat

Chapter 6: Threat  
  
"Quick guys, listen up!" Chance said as he turned up the volume to the police radio.  
  
Sensing his urgency, Kitty turned on another police radio that was connected to the computer.  
  
All of a sudden, a voice they recognised as Darkat's came on.  
  
"Commander Feral, if you're listening out there, I just want to tell you that I have your precious niece," Darkat said mockingly.  
  
A series of static then, Feral's voice came through.  
  
"Who are you? How do I know that this isn't one of those bluffs?"  
  
"Bluff?" Darkat asked haughtyly, "You want prove? It's going to cost you more..."  
  
"Give me the damn prove!" Feral exploded.  
  
"Herr Doktor, get the hostage!" Darkat commanded as Feral and the Swat Kats waited patiently. After a couple of minutes, Darkat came back on. "You want your prove? Well, ignorant fool, here's your costly prove!"  
  
There was a sound of the microphone being passed to another. Then, a frantic voice came on.  
  
"Uncle!" cried Felina in fury, "Trust the Swat Kats! They are..."  
  
Felina never got to finish her sentence as someone had cut her off by knocking her out. The Swat Kats could clearly hear the sound of the crash as Felina hit the floor. Chance winced at the thought of the blow.  
  
The microphone shifted again and Darkat came back on.  
  
"Now are you convinced, Commander?" he asked. "The ransom will be set at three point five million dollars in hard cash. I also want the prototype of the newly completed computer chip in the Jaguar Facility. And please, don't act as if I don't know what I'm talking about. Your niece's life is at stake."  
  
"All right," said the Commander reluctantly after a couple of seconds, "Where do you want to collect the money and chip?"  
  
Darkat laughed at the thought of victory. "At the train station in the district of Pumadime. There's only one so you can't miss it. Now listen carefully because I will tell you this only once:  
"I want the money and the chip in a black suitcase near the entrance of the last carriage of the southbound train. One of my servants will collect it; don't worry, when you see it, you'll know it's the one you're looking for. If I don't have it in five minutes starting from now, you'll have to erase Felina's existence in the record books. Any questions? Nope, so I'll leave you to your business. Oh and a word of advice: time's a-wasting!"  
  
At that point, Darkat cut off the communications link with the police. Back at the hanger, the Swat Kats were hard at work.  
  
"Kitty did you get a fix on the source of the transmission?" Chance asked as he flicked the radio off.  
  
Kitty nodded as she continued typing furiously away. "The transmission was weak so I've only got the area around it."  
  
Glancing over her shoulder, Jake gasped as he instantly recognised the area. "That's the forest! Darkat couldn't have set up a base in the forest. We would have seen it when we were out looking for Felina."  
  
"Not in the forest, Jake," said Kitty as she transferred the information to the Turbokat's computer, "but under the forest."  
  
Standing up, Kitty allowed Jake to run upstairs to collect their masks, helmet and glovatricks.   
  
"How do you intend to fly over to the forest without being shot down by the Enforcers?" Kitty asked Chance as Jake raced back down to the hanger.   
  
"Yeah, Chance, there's no way we could fly over the city without getting spotted by an Enforcer," said Jake tossing Kitty her equipment.  
  
"Well, Felina said something about trusting us, didn't she?" Chance questioned as he swiped off the wax polishers from the wing. "Let's just pray her uncle will heed her advice."   
  
"That's reassuring," replied Jake sarcastically. "But I've got a better plan."  
  
With that, Jake ran back up the stairs again, his footfalls pounding throughout the house. Back in the hanger, Hacker tied on her mask and slipped her helmet on. She leapt gracefully into her seat and continued to type furiously on the computer trying hard to get a precise location.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with Razor? Can't he see that we are in a hurry?" demanded T-bone.  
  
"Huh?" asked Hacker as she glanced up from her work. Her face etched with annoyance.  
  
"Nothing! I...I said nothing," T-bone replied waving his hands innocently in the air.  
  
Sighing, Hacker turned her attention to the computer, as T-bone climbed into his seat. Once in his seat, T-bone flicked on a series of buttons, which got the engines whirling.   
  
Flexing his fingers into his gloves, he called out, "Razor! Get your tail moving!"  
  
Seconds later, Razor raced down the flight of stairs and jumped into his seat. Pressing a small red button, the canopy swished close.  
  
"All right, I'm in! Step on it T-bone!" Razor cried.  
  
T-bone shoved the throttle forward as the engine burst to life. The Turbokat roared as T-bone steered it up the sloped runway. Ahead of them, the hanger doors slide open noiselessly and the Swat Kats were on their way to Pumadime, or what was left of it anyway. 


	7. No Way There

Chapter 7: No way there  
  
Hacker glanced curiously at her partners. They were expressionless.  
  
"Is it just me or am I the only one who doesn't know what the hell is going on?" Kitten asked splitting the silence.  
  
Razor looked at her blankly. "Huh?"  
  
"Let me put it another way then, what the hell are we doing, flying around in the sky when we know the Enforcers will start shooting their bloody tails off once they see us?!" questioned Hacker almost shouting.  
  
"Chill out, will ya? Razor's planned something, haven't you?" T-bone said with a faint note of uncertainty in his voice.  
  
Razor, who was fidgeting with a box, looked up and then continued to join certain wires together. Soon, the black box became a temporary part of the Turbokat.  
  
Hacker watched with anxiety building up in her body.   
  
"What in the world is that?" she finally asked as her curiosity had reached the limit.  
  
"It's the new and improved radio scrambler," Razor replied with a hint of pride.  
  
"I thought you built one of those little gadgets the last time?" T-bone asked.  
  
"That was last time. Remember it was busted because someone thought it was some leg rest?" retorted Razor angrily as he pushed the little red button on the top, activating the scrambler.  
  
Hacker giggled uncontrollably.   
  
"That's because it didn't have any buttons on it to tell me it was one of your gadgets!" cried T-bone defensively.  
  
"And that's why this one is new and improved. It's got a small button on it to remind some people it's no leg rest."  
  
Quickly Hacker changed the subject before they waged World War Three over some radio scrambler. "What does it do?" she asked innocently.  
  
"It scrambles the Enforcers radar system if any of their radio waves come near us," said Razor taking out a silver pen. Carefully he wrote in bold, 'Radio Scrambler not Leg Rest!!'  
  
"Alright," continued Razor, "let's take her to speed of heat."  
  
"Speed of Heat it is," repeated T-bone flicking a couple of switches.  
  
The extra metal canopy swished closed, and now T-bone had to fly with the help of radar. The Turbokat's wings retracted slightly as the extra boosters burst to life.   
  
"Wow! This is way cool," said Hacker as she calculated their speed. "We really are travelling at the speed of heat."  
  
"Yeah, thanks to our good friends, the Aquakats, from who-knows-what dimension and who-knows-which quadrant in space," said Razor.  
  
"Aren't they the ones who almost suck the world dry? " Hacker asked doubtfully.  
  
"Bingo! It's them all right. After we solved their problem, they gave back our waters and the Turbokat was given the Speed of Heat. A token of appreciation from the little green kats of outer space...I mean...blue kats." Razor grinned as he corrected himself.  
  
After a couple of minutes later, Hacker sited a faint blimp on her radar. This indicated the approximate location of Darkat's hideout.   
  
"Hey, T-bone we're almost there. Knock out of Speed of Heat," said Hacker.  
  
T-bone acknowledged the instruction and flicked off a switch. The wings of the Turbokat tract back to its original position and the metal canopy swished back into a compartment as the Turbokat dropped out of speed of heat.  
  
"Touch down!" exclaimed T-bone when he landed the Turbokat beside the jungle.  
  
"What do we do now?" asked Hacker, "For all we know, Darkat may be anywhere."  
  
Razor snapped his finger. "Of course! You'll have to hack into the police records for all the plans that cover this area. This is a wild guess but I doubt Darkat would bother to dig a new base. There must have been one here already."  
  
"Hacker, do your stuff and Razor, ready the Thunder Truck. Once the location has been detected, dislodge the truck from the jet and I'll take us there," said T-bone with confidence.  
  
"Alright! Now we're getting somewhere!" cried Hacker as her fingers flew across the keyboard.  
  
"You always know how to make the worst situation sound so good," admitted Razor with envy. "How do you do it without making silly jokes?"  
  
"It's all in the grey cells, my dear Watson," Hacker replied in her best Sherlock impersonation without looking up from her work.  
  
When she had gained access to the police mainframe, she went straight to the files where all the maps were kept. By using a searcher she had installed early, all she had to do was wait for the computer to pull out maps with only the area of the part beneath the forest. Seconds later, Hacker was presented with five maps. To her irritation, the first three maps whose dates showed that they were the most recent, revealed nothing but water pipes.   
  
Reluctantly, Hacker viewed the two other older maps expecting to find more water pipes, however she was caught unaware when she found what she had been hoping to find. There were series of tunnels; most of them were used to hide secret government projects, which had likely turned out to be failures. The government had hid these tunnels later on because they didn't want any one to find them. And, of course, over time they were forgotten.   
  
Hacker skimmed through the history of these tunnels and then gave T-bone the nearest entrance to these tunnels. Razor dislodged the Thunder Truck with a push of a button and the Swat Kats were slowly lowered to the ground from a large opening beneath the Turbokat. They did not have to move to a separate vehicle as the Thunder Truck was the interior of the Turbokat.   
  
"Alright guys, I'm taking her down," announced T-bone.  
  
"Did you 'lock' the Turbokat?" asked Hacker as she felt a sudden jolt as the Thunder truck drilled its way down into the earth.  
  
"Of course. I'm not going to have someone sabotage the equipment. It'll take me years to rebuilt her," confirmed Razor.  
  
Minutes later, they found themselves drilling past the metal covering of a concrete tunnel twice as big as the truck. Above was a shaft leading back to the surface and behind them was a hole, which they had drilled. Razor sighed as he flicked on the powerful lights of the truck.  
  
"We should have took the easy way down," he said regretfully. "Surely everybody down here knows that we've arrived."  
  
"Hey, we wanted quick and fast, I gave us quick and fast," T-bone said in defence to his plans.  
  
"Which way now, fearless leader?" Razor asked glancing first to the left then to the right. Both seemed endless tunnels leading into pitch-black darkness. 


	8. Onwards into Trouble

Chapter 8: Onwards into Trouble  
  
"We go left," announced Hacker suddenly as she broke the silence.  
  
Her partners stared at her incredulously, both kats raising curious eyebrows.  
  
"What makes you think so?" asked T-bone finally.  
  
"Trust me." Hacker answered strongly then added. "I'm psychic!"  
  
With some thought and consideration, Razor decided to take a leap of faith into the unknown, so he supported Hacker. "Do what the lady says."  
  
With a shrug, T-bone turned the truck and headed on. "If this is the wrong way Miss Sherlock, then I swear I'll skin you alive! And you too, Razor."  
  
After a mile or so, their headlights picked up a shiny black object on the ground. T-bone instantly stopped the truck and in one fluid motion, he leapt out to investigate.  
  
"It's Felina's radio! I'm sure of it," T-bone cried back to his partners, whom he assumed were waiting patiently in the truck. He switched off the radio and headed back for the Thunder Truck. "We're heading the right direction. Her footprints have hardened but there are still some signs of them."  
  
Suddenly there was a loud screech beside his ear, a whistling sound and then it was followed by a faint thump. T-bone swiftly turned around, his guns already out and pointing into the darkness. On the ground laid a dead body of a D'Airkat, a crossbow bolt pierced into it's mid-section. T-bone's brows furrowed in confusion. Someone tapped his shoulder from behind that made him jump with alarm. Standing right behind him was his grinning partner and a high-tech miniature crossbow.  
  
"Don't ever do that again," T-bone whispered harshly at Razor.  
  
Suddenly, a series of silenced gunshots were fired above their heads causing T-bone and Razor to drop instinctively to the ground. They rolled to take up standard positions, weapons poised and aimed into the darkness, their backs against each other.  
  
A slim feline silhouette stepped out of the shadows, posed erotically, then raised her gun to her lips and blew the smoke from the barrel.  
  
"You boys better learn to watch your backs from now on," Hacker said with a western accent as she approached the two stunned male kats. "I may be occupied next time."   
  
Razor and T-bone gazed around incredulously at all the scattered D'Airkats then followed Hacker silently into the truck. Once they were all in, T-bone floored the pedal and they were off again doing over eighty kilometres per hour. For awhile no one said a word, but glances were exchanged between the trio as unsaid words were communicated.   
  
Razor looked at Hacker in a new aspect, with surprise and admiration. "Where did you learn to do that?"   
  
She looked deep in his eyes. "The shooting or the pose?" she asked in a low voice.  
  
Razor blushed for a minute then regained his cool posture. "What do you think?" he asked in return.  
  
Hacker answered with a smile playing across her lips.  
  
Razor ventured another question. "So how did you know that this was the right way to go?"  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?" jumped in T-bone with curiosity. Although his attention was on managing the twists and turns of the tunnel, he was rather interested in this part of the conversation. "I don't believe anything to do out of the extraordinary much less --"   
  
"I told you, already. I am psychic!" Hacker interrupted almost instantly, all playfulness on her tone lost.  
  
Razor glanced seriously at her, his arms crossed over his chest. "No really."  
  
Hacker shook her head in resignation, allowing herself to face away from Razor's confused and pleading eyes.  
  
"Whether or not you wish to believe in it is your choice," she answered.  
  
"I know how you did it, Miss Psychic," T-bone said taking a quick peek of Hacker in the side mirror of the truck.   
  
"Enlighten me," said Hacker, "please."  
  
"You're the computer expert right? Well, you probably found a way to track the signal from Darkat's lair and found a route with those maps or..." T-bone paused checking Hacker's reaction, frowning when he saw no smile on her face. "...Or you could have picked up anything - like Felina's radio - I don't know! You may have fooled my gullible partner, but definitely not me."  
  
"It does sound reasonable," commented Hacker. "Let's just say that's how I did it."  
  
"There you see?" T-bone said. "There's no such thing as possessing supernatural powers."  
  
Razor reluctantly nodded however something nagged at the back of his mind that he just couldn't quite place his finger on it yet. Perhaps it was because he wasn't used to being saved by Hacker, as he would always be covering T-bone's back and T-bone would be covering his. Maybe this was clouding his judgements; there was still a lot unknown about this feline who was suddenly tossed into their lives. A lot of her past had been answered with simple explanations, but none had gone into detail. Like for example her time with the Enforcers. What had really happened in that place, in that time of solitude? So many questions, thought Razor, so difficult to approach without irritating her. He sighed with defeat, facing the real truth of his silence; he was afraid of asking her about her past - he was afraid of angering her. Sinking into his seat, he was now even afraid to look at her.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of a truly uncomfortable and unforgettable bumpy ride, Hacker picked up another signal on her monitor. This time it was not faint, but very strong. The faint blip blip of the monitor alerted her partners and T-bone instinctively switched off the headlights, as he still wanted to make a surprise attack even though they'd made a complete racket in the beginning.   
  
"So, what's the plan?" asked Hacker eagerly.  
  
Razor and T-bone looked at each other then at Hacker.  
  
"We...um...we bust in and capture the bad guys," T-bone replied simply.  
  
"That's a splendid plan," Hacker said sarcastically, "and what happens if we are caught?"  
  
"Then we'll have to put our instincts and brain to work," said Razor with a grin.  
  
"We act on our instincts," agreed T-bone.  
  
"Okay, how about you go in and get the bad guys while I free the captives," said Hacker in resignation. "How does that sound?"  
  
"Sounds good to me," said Razor flexing his fingers. "I'm ready to punch some tails!"  
  
The Thunder Truck rolled silently until they saw a faint glow of light ahead of them. Taking out an infrared visor, Razor slipped them over his eyes.   
  
"Alright, I see three distinct figures. One of them is apparently not moving that much, standing at the far-left end of the cave. The other two are moving something heavy, which has loads of heat in it. I can't make out what it is though," reported Razor. "Here you have a look."  
  
Hacker accepted the visor and as she peered through them, she shook her head, defeated.   
  
"I have no idea what that is," she said.  
  
"Well there's only one way to find out," said T-bone.  
  
Razor gave an affirmative nod to his partners. "We're going in." 


	9. Freed

Chapter 9: Freed  
  
Since the Thunder Truck could not fit through the narrow passageway to the cave, the Swat Kats regretfully abandoned the truck making sure that it, too, was locked up tightly. Poking her head above a large boulder, Hacker immediately scanned and memorised the different equipment, which laid in huge piles all over the muddy ground. There was one large laser gun that an android and a few D'Airkats were tediously heaving into another tunnel at the far-left side of the cave.  
  
"Holy!" exclaimed Hacker as she saw a small catch at the top of the cave open, letting a stream of sunlight in.   
  
"Darkat is going to destroy the city with that laser gun if someone doesn't meet his demands," Razor said unnecessarily. "Looks like they are going to use the satellite, overhead Megakat City! They shot the laser from here, it reflects of the satellite and boom...one section of the city is in flames," Razor continued. "A small opening up on the cave is all they need."   
  
"Great! This is just what we really need, now" groaned T-bone as he took out his binoculars to scan the area. "One push of the button and major catastrophes start happening."  
  
"We've got to destroy that thing before they start creating havoc," declared Hacker.  
  
"I don't think they're going to start firing that machine yet," predicted Razor mysteriously.   
  
Hacker looked at him piercingly, as though trying to find out why he had thought so. Suddenly, it came to her as she snapped her fingers. "Of course! They still have to collect the ransom money."  
  
"I don't think so," replied T-bone as he passed the binoculars to Razor.  
  
"Crud!" Razor swore when he spotted a black suitcase with the Enforcers' emblem near the control station. Then he spotted a figure so familiar, that he had to readjust the binoculars' magnification to the maximum. "Now this is weird...I think I see Felina! She's being held in a little room in the right corner."  
  
"What?!" cried T-bone in disbelief as he grabbed the binoculars from Razor, "How could they have done the exchange without Felina?"  
  
"What I want to know is how they managed to do it so fast. I mean we were travelling at the speed of heat!" said Hacker.  
  
"They had enough time, all right," replied Razor, "The Enforcers would do anything to get Felina back and at the shortest time possible and we live at the other end of the city and..."  
  
"I think it's about time we move in," interrupted T-bone as he turned to face Hacker, "We'll go according to your plan, Razor and I'll take down the goons while you rescue Felina."  
  
The trio nodded their heads in agreement as Hacker peeled off and headed to the right side of the cave, hiding and crawling whenever possible. Glancing over her shoulder, Hacker saw her partners doing the same thing she was. She also saw that the android and the D'Airkats were beginning to set up the machine.   
  
Crud! she thought, we've already lost too much precious time. Now she reached a clearing, where there were no lose equipment large enough to hide her. Poking her head up again, she saw that the android was facing his back to her and the D'Airkats were busily making room around the laser just in case there was need for a quick escape. This was good for her but not for her partners.   
  
Taking in a deep breath, Hacker did a smooth flip. Gracefully, she landed on her two feet with a soft thud and quickly ducked behind the next pile of rubble as she waited to hear if she had been caught. Seconds flew by and, to her relief, she realised that the D'Airkats were not coming after her. There, in front of her now, was the door to the room where Felina was held prisoner. Flicking out her middle claw, she set off to pick the lock and every so often, she glanced cautiously towards the laser to see if she had been spotted.  
  
Felina was furious that Darkat had traded an unconscious Ann for the money. Of course! Why would the Metallikats want their secret to be out before their attack? she thought, making herself feel very foolish. They know I've more experience in getting conscious again. Suddenly, Felina was surprised by a sudden click of the door.  
  
"Oh mo!" whispered the gagged Felina as she struggled fruitlessly for the hundredth time to break free from her chains.  
  
The door opened slightly, and again, she was surprised when she saw Hacker crawling through the gap. Sighing in relief, Felina stopped her struggles and allowed Hacker to unchain her. Before the second last lock clicked free, Hacker and Felina her shouts, which were followed by gunfire and shrill shrieks of the D'Airkats.   
  
"I knew I couldn't leave the guys to do something right," exclaimed Hacker as she furiously picked the last rusted lock.  
  
Once the lock came off, Felina quickly untied the gag and spat at it disgustedly. The two felines sprang out of the room in full bursts before they were forced to duck under a shower of bullets. Swiftly Hacker pulled out her gun and returned fire. Slowly, they advanced toward the laser gun hoping to get a better shot at disabling it. Once the felines neared the laser gun, Hacker realised, from the information the android had computed in, that the laser gun was set on a timer, ready to unleash its deadly force in five minutes. 


	10. Tricked

Chapter 10: Tricked  
  
Hacker quickly formulated a plan in her head. She knew she had to go around the battle zone if she wanted to reach the laser gun alive. Since the laser gun, the D'Airkats and the android were separated from the machine by a huge pile of junk, Hacker realised the only way to get to the machine was to return into the room and exit from the other door. From then on, all she had to do was run and duck all the way until she reached the laser gun.   
  
Quickly, she briefly told Felina what she had in mind and Hacker was off before Felina could even protest. Felina knew that for Hacker to return to the room, she had to provide Hacker a decoy. Felina picked up the gun Hacker had left for her and crawled quickly away from the room. Frantically, Felina cocked the gun and opened fire at the D'Airkats, but nothing happened. Lowering back down behind the junk, Felina realised that she had forgotten to release the safety catch.  
  
"Damn!" Felina whispered fiercely under her breath, her heart pounding against her chest.  
  
Releasing the switch, Felina poked her head above the junk and opened fire. This time, bullets streamed out of the barrel. She gave a savage smile as she shot down five D'Airkats unrelentingly. However, her main target was still the android for he had two large machine guns, which seemed to have an infinite number of bullets. The android was also working on the computer at the same time with another set of hands that had seem to have appeared from no where. Concentrating on her target, Felina wondered how the other Swat Kats was fairing.  
  
T-bone and Razor were up to their necks with trouble. They had started out poorly in the first place as a D'Airkat had spotted them. It had nearly snapped off Razor's tail if T-bone had not fired at it. Razor still couldn't figure out how it had caught sight of them. In fact, Razor nor T-bone had seen it and if they couldn't see it, how could it have seen them?  
  
Razor hated pondering on these types of questions especially in the middle of a fight. As he tried to concentrate on his quick moving targets, he wondered what else could go wrong. Suddenly, he caught sight of an unexpected stream of bullets flying towards the D'Airkats. Both he and T-bone glanced at each other with amused looks and it took them awhile for them to realise that it came from either Felina or Hacker.   
  
"Hey, buddy, look out!" Razor heard T-bone yell.  
  
He glanced at T-bone and saw the large kat in mid-air, heading directly towards him, arms a-spread. Razor's eyes widened with surprise as T-bone came crashing down on him, pinning him to the ground. A second later, bullets cut through the air above them.  
  
"Man, what were you thinking?! You coulda been killed!" T-bone cried frantically.  
  
Razor grunted. "I'm okay now. Thanks for asking."  
  
T-bone cracked a smile and then rolled quickly off to resume his firing.   
  
"Focus, Razor, focus," whispered Razor to himself as he pulled his thoughts on one thing: to get rid of the D'Airkats before they got rid of them.   
  
T-bone and Razor took turns firing at the D'Airkats and the android. Though they were both aware that the android was also working on the computer, they were too far from him to get an exact shot. Razor was also too far to know what the android was doing though he wished he could if the D'Airkats weren't so damn close to him. Also, at this distance, nothing could keep the D'Airkats from clipping him to pieces once he moved away from his makeshift shelter.  
  
"Oh man, what else could go wrong?" Razor asked voicing his thoughts.  
  
At the same moment, there was a clicking sound from T-bone's gun followed by his own gun. Both kats swore as they ducked behind the junk.  
  
"Crud! I'm out," said T-bone with a look of defeat as he glanced toward Razor.  
  
"Looks like this is definitely not our day," replied Razor has he held up his gun and released the empty shaft. It clattered hollowly as it struck the metal plate that Razor was stooping on. "I'm out, too."  
  
"Heavy artillery?" suggested T-bone.  
  
Razor smiled as though his partner had read his mind. "Heavy artillery it is."  
  
Heavy artillery did not mean that they would take in the Thunder Truck. No, that would have taken far too long. In fact, it referred to their glovatricks, which had retractable metal claws, tiny missiles and hundreds of other functions.  
  
Holding out his fist so that it pointed above the D'Airkats, Razor fired. "Spider missiles, away!"  
  
The missile sliced through the air and all of a sudden, a net seemed to emerge from within it. The net sprang open when it passed over the D'Airkats, trapping the alien insects as it was brought down by weights that were attached to the corners of the net.   
  
"Bingo!" cried Razor, punching his fists in the air.  
  
T-bone gave Razor a high-five as he, too, started firing with his miniature cement gun, which was attached to the top of his right glove. As the spurts of cement found their targets, the D'Airkats' wings were glued together and they fell like rocks from the sky. T-bone and Razor exchanged worried looks as they both wondered where their partner was for they had confirmed that the other shooter was Felina by her jet-black hair.   
  
Hacker had already ran straight through the small building when three D'Airkats that were heading her way were cemented and fell to her feet. She didn't stop to see who had saved her the trouble of fighting them. Hacker knew that she could not waste anymore time. Her mind was made up. She concentrated on one thing: to destroy the laser gun before Darkat used it to enslave the world.  
  
Up ahead of her, the android was grinning as his fingers lingered on a green button on the control panel ready to activate it any second now. That was Hacker's cue as she silently bounded for the panel, keeping low, making sure her attack was a surprise. Hacker frowned wondering what Darkat's plan was. She felt strangely insecure as if she were one step behind. Had Darkat planned all this in advance? For that matter, where is Darkat anyway? wondered Hacker as she crawled towards the control station.  
  
Unknown to the Swat Kats and Felina, Darkat was already in his escape vehicle awaiting the final showdown. He smiled smugly to himself as he watched his brilliant plan unfold. Looking at the screen that captured the entire cave, he saw that the Swat Kats had taken the bait and had fallen into his well-laid trap. He held the delicate chip in his fingers. It was his latest toy. Perhaps he would test it out later, after the Swat Kats were destroyed once and for all.  
  
Two seconds after the green button was hit, a dome-shaped force field came up and enclosed the perimeters of the laser gun and control station, trapping Hacker inside the field. At the top there was a gap about a meter in diameter that was not covered because the laser had to be able to shot through the hole in the ceiling undisturbed.   
  
She waited for another tense moment, pulled herself together, and then decided it was time to act. Springing up from behind the control panel, she raised her hands in a defensive position to block whatever came to attack her. To her surprise, there was no one there. Suddenly there was a roaring sound above her, like the sound of an activated jetpack. She was right.   
  
Above her the D'Airkats and the android streamed out of the gap and away from the field. A few seconds a secret door that had been camouflaged to look like part of the cave opened and the D'Airkats flew in. The android lowered back down on solid ground, raised one gun, aimed it at the centre of the ceiling and fired. 


	11. Fatal Mission

Chapter 11: Fatal mission  
  
Everything happened in a blur. Razor tried to make sense of how it all happened, but knew that this wasn't the time to do so. Strings of bullets pelted against the ceiling as the android laughed hysterically firing seemingly without end. The clattering of the empty shells spilling onto the platform that supported the laser gun. Just as the stalactites above the cave started cracking as a sure sign of giving way, he ran into the tunnel, gunning the roof of the tunnel down behind him.   
  
"Cave in! Everyone get the hell out of here!" T-bone barked to anyone who could hear him as he waved his hands to clear the dust around him to find the way out.  
  
As T-bone and Razor bolted for the tunnel they had entered in, they saw shadows heading for it too, although they were not sure if it was one or two. Large spikes drove into the ground right in front of T-bone, causing him to swerve and lose balance. He felt a sharp pain shoot up from his right leg and grimaced with pain knowing he'll probably be buried alive if he couldn't get up. All of a sudden, Razor's hand snaked out from under a cover of smoke, gripped T-bone's failing arms and jerked him up again almost pulling his arm out of his socket. After T-bone regained his balance, Razor led his limping partner towards the tunnel.   
  
Upon reaching the safety of the tunnel, T-bone collapsed on a huge boulder nursing the deep cut in his leg. Razor found an exhausted Felina gasping for breath on the floor a couple of meters in. Caked blood shimmered on her black hair as she turned and tossed her head from the pain. Alarmed to find only Felina, Razor glanced back and realised that there was no sign of Hacker.  
  
"Hacker!" Razor yelled worriedly as he turned surveying the result of the cave-in. Dust had already begun to settle, but the stacks of new rock were making it hard to locate a single kat. It's like looking for a pin in a haystack! Razor realised with defeat. It would be useless even if he ran in blindly for she could be anywhere. A split-second later, a thought struck him. Turning to Felina he demanded where she had last seen Hacker. Since Hacker rescued Felina, it was only rational that she was the last to see Hacker.  
  
With a dazed look, Felina supplied Razor with incoherent answers, gasping for breath between each sentence. After what seemed like hours as precious minutes flew by, Razor began to piece together the puzzle. Picking up what jagged information he had heard, he realised that Hacker would have insisted on disabling the laser gun, which he had just discovered was set on a timer, even if it meant risking her life to save Megakat City.  
  
Just as Razor was about to leave the tunnel for the laser gun, when all of a sudden a sound of a machine charging up was abruptly silenced by an explosion. For a while Razor was eased by the fact that the control panel had exploded and that the city was safe; however, that feeling did not last long as he remembered that Hacker was somewhere in that blazing hell. Startled, he watched as flames quickly burst to life, consuming everything that was combustible. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of Razor's face as heat radiated all around the cave. Fumes and smoke quickly covered the gun and everything around it as yet another explosion went off.  
  
"We gotta get out..." grunted T-bone, limping towards the Thunder Truck.  
  
Razor glanced into the blazing fire, flames licking the air. It was now or never, when the fire was still growing. He glanced back hesitantly at T-bone and then at Felina. They were going to be fine even without his help, they could make it back to the surface. Turning his back to them, he jogged back into the cave.  
  
"NO!" T-bone's voice echoed the sides of the cave. "Razor!"  
  
Razor hoped his partner would understand what he had to do. Razor had not understood the pain T-bone had felt when Felina was lost, but now he felt it. The pain struck straight to the centre of his heart, but as long as he was here, he would not lose hope of finding her. He didn't want to know what it felt like when all hope slipped through his fingers; he never wanted to know.  
  
Keeping his mind solely on looking for Hacker, he made his way back to where he had last seen the laser gun. Pushing past fiery debris, ignoring the pain and his scorching fur, he heard a faint moan. At first he thought it was the cackling of the fire, so he called for her. Straining his ears, he heard a muffling cry for help under a pile of metal plates. With relief, he lifted the metal plates and in his excitement, he had forgotten that by now all metal would be burning hot. Seconds later, his brain registered the pain as he yelped and released the scorching metal, tossing it away from where he had heard the buried feline. Quickly slipping on his gloves he began uncovering the heap of discarded equipment. And then, in the midst of wires, he spotted a blackened auburn hand. Razor choked on tears and smoke as he stripped the layers of melting plastics and circuitry.   
  
Dropping to his knees, ignoring the intensive heat around him, he cradled Hacker's head close to his chest, close to his heart. Tears gleamed off his cheek and fell to Hacker's face. The semi-conscious feline twitched as drops of water fell onto her closed eyes. She felt strong arms lift her and carry her out of the wreckage. Hacker knew she was safe now as she slid into comforting darkness but she didn't know if she would be able to make it out alive. She didn't know if they would make it out alive.  
  
She seemed to float forever in the darkness. A fog had descended around her; she could feel the chill deep down to the core of her bones. A light, like none other, seemed to pierce through the fog like normal sunlight on clear days. It beckoned her to follow. Squinting at the light, she tried to find the source of it. There was none. She stood undecided; the voice in her mind told her to go but something was pulling her back too - something that she could not put her finger on.  
  
Razor emerged from the smoke filled tunnels with Hacker in his arms, much to T-bone's relief. Razor dropped to his knees gasping for breath but all the while he still had the strength to hold the unconscious feline.   
  
"The paramedics are on their way, buddy," T-bone said assuredly, pulling out a med-kit from the Thunder Truck, which he had managed to drive out as he and Felina were too exhausted to climb out of the underground tunnels. T-bone was so relieved to see his partners that he did not want to know how Razor had made it out alive.  
  
Quickly, T-bone prepared the stretcher and glanced at Razor giving him the signal to place Hacker on it. Instead he found his partner lost in a reverie.   
  
"Razor, right now would be as good a time as any," T-bone said indicating to the stretcher and the readied medical equipment.  
  
It took a couple of minutes, but with extra care, T-bone managed to pry Hacker lose from Razor's protective arms, without disturbing his partner's grievance. Promptly, the dusty brown kat worked fast to revive Hacker knowing that every second now was more precious to lose than all the gold in the world. Razor dropped to his knees, helplessly beside his fallen love, gripping her hand tightly with both of his. As T-bone performed CPR, all Razor could do was pray for any sign of movement - any sign of life.  
  
She didn't know how long she had been at that spot deciding whether or not to move ahead or return - but return to where? It was frustrating - this not knowing of things, this not knowing of anything - and yet it seemed as if she knew everything. She took a step closer to the light; she had decided that since she did not know where to return to, she might as well move forward. But as soon as she placed her foot down again, she had this strange sensation rip through her, as if her heart had been stolen. She felt the pain seethe through her mind - her heart - and she shook her head hoping to get rid of it.   
  
Suddenly, the room's temperature dropped ten folds and she shivered uncontrollably. No! A voice cried from far away, a voice filled with untold love and compassion. She stopped in her tracks and turned around toward the darkness, the voice was so strong it compelled her to follow it to its source.  
  
"She isn't dead!" Razor cried, shoving T-bone over.  
  
"She hasn't got a pulse, bud," T-bone said in defence.  
  
Razor had already leapt over Hacker's limp body. He pumped her chest furiously five times then leaned over and gave her mouth-to-mouth. But Hacker remained unresponsive, no matter how hard, or how long, he tried. Sirens sounded in the distance, signalling the arrival of the paramedics.  
  
"Quick, get Hacker back to the Turbojet!" T-bone commanded.  
  
"Why?" asked Razor tearfully. "Shouldn't we let the paramedics...?"  
  
"Razor, it's no use," T-bone said softly. "She's gone. And if you have any sense left in your head, you'll listen to me: put her in the Turbokat. We're gonna take her home."  
  
Razor cradled Hacker's body close to his heart again and settled to the ground with no intention to move her anywhere.  
  
"Look Razor, we either hand her over to the medics and let them send her to the morgue or we bring her home and give her the farewell she deserves," T-bone said comfortingly. Frustrated at having to deal with a kat, who would not listen, T-bone exploded. "Would you put yourself into her shoes, Razor?! She has no family - no one who cared for her in the beginning. You want her to be remembered as a nobody?"  
  
That was all it took for Razor to react. "I love her T-bone. I've never felt this way before and I damn well may never feel it again. And it's because of who we are that killed her...I killed her."  
  
"You're wrong, buddy," T-bone said kneeling to face Razor. "Don't you remember that it was because of who we are that brought her to you?"  
  
Razor took a deep breath and wiped the tears that had all of a sudden came. "Let's take her home." Halfway to the Turbokat, Razor stopped and glanced at T-bone. "Thanks, buddy...for getting me through. But aren't you forgetting about Felina?"  
  
"She'll understand," T-bone replied confidently. "Besides, I didn't want to stick around to meet Feral."  
  
With that, the Swat Kats solemnly made their way home. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:   
  
The pain burned on, now she felt as if she were burning up inside with needles piercing her skin  
  
  
Note to Readers - This is one of my first ever fanfic. I started drafting the story late one night on April 3, 1999 and have been working on it off and on ever since (if you have read my other fanfics, this excuse/story will sound awfully familiar lol). Congrats to whoever you are who has gotten thus far; this is one of my longest works ever. However, I am sad to say that it remains incomplete as you can see. If you would like to bug me for an ending please feel free to email me ^_^ 


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